Julian Savea contract negotiations ‘not as good as they should have been’, Hurricanes chief executive Avan Lee says

Julian Savea bumps off Scott Gregory's attempted tackle during a 2022 clash between the Hurricanes and Highlanders. Photo / Getty Images

Hurricanes chief executive Avan Lee has addressed Julian Savea’s exit from the club, saying poor contract negotiations saw the parties part ways.

Savea announced on social media that he would not be with the Hurricanes in 2024, noting the “brutal” nature of professional sport and conceding it wasn’t how he had thought his time with the club would come to an end.

Lee shed more light on that situation this afternoon, saying discussions between the two parties “weren’t as good as they should have been” but he wished Savea all the best for the next part of his career.

Lee also noted that a change in the team’s coaching setup for 2024 – with Clark Laidlaw replacing Jason Holland as head coach - played a part in the outcome.

“There were conversations taking place between coaches and the player, and obviously that didn’t work out in Julian’s favour. It’s massively difficult to go through a process like that and see a legend of the club leaving,” Lee said.

“The fact we had a new coaching setup was definitely a complication because that person hadn’t started, the coaches had to discuss players and contracts, who might be coming in and who might not be.

“For me, it’s the coach’s decision, but I stand beside it. But that was a part of the puzzle and was a complication.”

Savea has spent more than a decade playing for the Hurricanes across two stints. After an eight-year run which included winning the Super Rugby title in 2016 and saw him earn 54 appearances for the All Blacks, he took up an offer to continue his career in France.

Returning to Kiwi shores in the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, rejoining the Hurricanes late in the 2020 Super Rugby Aotearoa season, and later signed on for the 2021 campaign.

He then extended his stay until the end of the 2023 season, and during the Hurricanes’ most recent campaign equalled Israel Folau’s record for most tries in Super Rugby, scoring 60 tries in 152 Super Rugby appearances for the Hurricanes over 11 seasons.

The 33-year-old, who said he “still had plenty more in the tank”, will continue his career in Super Rugby, and indicated his new club would be announced in the week ahead.

“It’s a very difficult situation and to see a legend of the club leaving the Hurricanes is tough,” Lee said. “You build up a personal relationship with the senior players over eight or 10 years, so it is genuinely really difficult to see them go and we’ll absolutely miss Jules around our place.

“I’m not surprised he’s been picked up by another club given his experience and what he can bring off the field as much as on it.”